On Wednesday, our pals at Deadspin ran a piece about how the people behind memes that compare injured players from different sports are idiots, because calling Rich Peverley tough for almost dying on the bench and then wanting to get back into the game in state of confusion has nothing to do with LeBron James having to be helped off the court after a leg cramp. Last time I checked, cramps f*cking hurt, and I’m not a doctor, so when I get one in my leg or calf, I sincerely believe my leg is exploding. But sports fans will be sports fans, and of course a hockey vs. basketball debate broke out on Deadspin’s Facebook post, and you should read it if you’d like to lose all faith in humanity.

But while people continue to argue about this crap while missing the real difference between toughness and reckless personal endangerment, Mike Dunleavy was out there reminding everyone that there are indeed tough guys in the NBA. The Chicago Bulls small forward took an elbow to the face from Chandler Parsons last night and had to leave the court with blood spurting everywhere so he could get some stitches and undergo the mandatory concussion exam. What happened next should at least earn a little respect from Johnny Muscle Fist Toothless Smile Hockey Fan.

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Dunleavy passed his test and eventually returned to the game with stitches, and he proceeded to light the Houston Rockets up for 18 points in the 3rd quarter. He’d finish the game with 21, but the Bulls wouldn’t need any more out of their star Cyclops as they defeated the Rockets 111-87.

There is no debate. Cramps don’t hurt for anyone who has actually suffered a serious injury. Rich Peverley died, was revived and still wanted to go play. Gregory Campbell broke his leg, but finished his shift. Patrice Bergeron had a punctured lung, separated shoulder and broken rib, but still played in Game 6. Lebron had a cramp. A cramp. So Dunleavy got some stitches? Hey good for him. But he’s white so I’m not shocked. But maybe you should go watch Steven Stamkos, you know, the best pure goal scorer in the sport, block a slap shot with his face, but return to finish the game. A puck to the face at 90+mph hurts a hell of a lot more than a glancing elbow.

There is no debate on the toughness of the players who play either sport, or the skill it takes to play. Hockey wins. Every. Single. Time. Stop embarrassing yourself by trying to say otherwise

Honestly, we’d rather you just continue to ignore hockey than say ridiculously ignorant things about it.

We understand, you don’t get this sport. It’s fast, complicated, and there are rarely any “set plays” so you have to think about what might happen next, instead of knowing it (plus, we know Americans only care about things they do well in, and well, you know). It’s too difficult for you. But I promise; put the effort into learning it, and you will wonder why you ever spent a moment forcing yourself to enjoy basketball

Shut. The fuck. Up. Hockey is complicated? Perhaps if you are a fucking idiot, shooting a puck at a net is like trying to grasp quantum mechanics, but for the rest of us, it’s pretty fucking simple to follow.

I get that most hockey fans have an inferiority complex because no one outside of Canada gives a shit, but man, ease up. Hockey is a great game, but it’s fans like you who hold it up as some sort of bastion of virtue that make me hate liking it.

1.) You completely missed the line between reckless personal endangerment and toughness point. You don’t belong on the ice/court/wrestling ring/anywhere requiring you to do anything of a physical nature if you have broken bones or internal organs collapsing or your brain has just been bashed into worthless mush. That is stupid and your brokeass is hurting your team by being out there, no matter how good you might be when healthy.

2.) A glancing elbow doesn’t begin to explode your face the way it did to Dunleavy.

3.) It does not matter what you’ve been through in the past, cramps do still hurt like a bitch in the moment.

4.) A lack of set plays undermines your complexity argument, even though it happens to be true enough. But then every team sport has it’s own set of situations and strategies that give them varying degrees of complexity. Hockey is not special at all in that regard.

5.) Basketball is the next fastest-paced major sport (last two minutes of a desperate comeback attempt aside), and manages to not be a scoring cocktease in the process.

6.) I didn’t even know there was such a thing as pretentious dick hockey fans, but here you are. Congratulations. Wanna cookie?

Oh yeah, that weird racist crack in your pissy little comment didn’t go unnoticed either, assclownlord. For future reference, that’s *really* not something you want to do when making an argument for something you obviously hold dear to an uncomfortable degree. Making your argument in a general tone that can only be described as “sanctimonious little shit” isn’t great either.

To be perfectly honest, I thought it was less about NBA players IN GENERAL being wusses, but more about how LEBRON is a wuss. Dude barely shows up for the fourth quarter when he’s HEALTHY; he’s not gonna do it after taking an elbow to the face.